Desperate Gadhafi Bombs Protesters, Blocks Internet

Hosni Mubarak’s goons used rocks, sticks, camels and knives against the Egyptian demonstrators who ultimately overthrew him. In neighboring Libya, Moammar Gadhafi is using far more drastic measures to avoid Mubarak’s fate: air strikes on his own people and fiery deaths for security officers who refuse his commands.

A week of protests have placed unprecedented pressure on Gadhafi’s regime, and he’s responded with far more violence than any of the other embattled Mideast autocracies. Human Rights Watch has tallied at least 233 protester deaths from regime security forces so far; Al Jazeera is reporting that another 250 have been killed on Monday alone. Despite a media blackout, reports are emerging on Al Jazeera and elsewhere that fighter jets and helicopters are attacking demonstrators in Tripoli and Benghazi.

On Monday, two Libyan Air Force colonels defected to Malta, saying that they would not obey orders to bomb protesters. The Libyan government is denying any reports of the airstrikes. But an anonymous witness in Tripoli told The New York Times that the jets, helicopters and militiamen below caused an “obscene amount of gunfire” in the Libyan capitol. “They were strafing these people. People were running in every direction.”

Gadhafi has aped some of the worst aspects of Mubarak’s attempts to cling to power. As Renesys is documenting, he’s attempted to shut down the internet in order to limit the outside world’s ability to learn about his crackdown. But the shutdown isn’t absolute, and graphic images like the video embedded above have proliferated online; This much-tweeted video claims to display the human remains of security officials who were burned to death for refusing to kill protesters. It’s been posted by the YouTube account MeddiTV, and while I don’t know that MeddiTV is based in Libya, it has several more videos purporting to show the protests there.

At least nine Libyan diplomats have resigned, according to Al Jazeera’s tally. Libya’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations said Gadhafi was guilty of “crimes against humanity and crimes of war” and “genocide.”

A Mideast expert at D.C.’s George Washington University who’s consulted with the Obama administration on the regional uprisings is calling for NATO military intervention. Marc Lynch blogs that the U.S., the United Nations, NATO and the Arab League should consider a “declaration and enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, presumably by NATO, to prevent the use of military aircraft against the protesters.”

The U.S. has assets nearby to enforce a no-fly zone. The Navy’s 6th Fleet is based in Italy, possessing about 175 planes easily capable of flying across the Mediterranean to Libya. According to Globalsecurity.org, the Libyan Air Force possesses a lot of Soviet-era MiGs and Sukhoi aircraft.

The world is watching the situation in Libya with alarm. We join the international community in strongly condemning the violence in Libya. Our thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives have been lost, and with their loved ones. The government of Libya has a responsibility to respect the universal rights of the people, including the right to free expression and assembly. Now is the time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed. We are working urgently with friends and partners around the world to convey this message to the Libyan government.

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